A Shoulder to Cry On
by ibelieveinthegood87
Summary: Rachel is hurt one morning at school and Finn wants to take care of her. Finchel fic. One-shot. I know everyone says this, but the story actually is way better than the summary. I swear. Please R&R!


A/N: I came up with this at some point, and it's just been sitting on my computer. I thought I'd publish it for fun :) Have an amazing holiday season everyone!

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Disclaimer: I tried; they wouldn't let me buy Glee. Apparently they wanted more than the 50 dollars I have to offer. Go figure ;) So, sadly, it still belongs to Fox, not me.

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Rachel and Finn were walking down the hall, hand in hand of course. Rachel looked up at Finn smiling - how did she get so lucky? He was really good to her. Admittedly he could be a little - what's a nicer word for dumb? - at times, but he had a good heart. And a great smile.

Suddenly Rachel felt a big set of hands collide with her body, just below her chest. The impact knocked her backwards, forcing her to break her hand away from Finn's, and sending her tumbling into a locker at full speed. She felt a horrible pain shoot through her shoulder, and saw Finn kneeling down beside her, looking somewhere between guilt-ridden and heartbroken.

Finn could not believe he had just let that happen! If he hadn't been so focused on trying to remember what the cafeteria was serving for lunch that day, maybe he would have seen it coming. Or at least done a better job reacting to it. Maybe he would have been able to protect her. Oh God, what if she was hurt? He would kill them.

He knelt down, and she smiled at him. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You okay?" He asked, allowing one of his hands to cup the side of her face. He felt her gently lean into his hand.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry. Just, help me up?" She asked, shooting him a great big Rachel Berry smile.

He helped her to her feet, and collected all of the books that were now scattered around the hall. He packed them back into her bag, and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. Just then, the bell rang. He squeezed her hand, then let go, and they parted ways.

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Rachel made it through her first class without too much distress. Her shoulder was sore, but nothing terrible. She kept her hand in her pocket so she didn't have to move her arm. She was maybe a little more quiet than usual, but her classmates were more appreciative than worried by this.

Her second class - english - was a little harder. It was becoming more difficult to concentrate. The ache was making her tired.

Her third class was history. She decided she was probably over reacting - she had a tendency to do that. So, she decided to carry on as per usual. Until she decided to raise her hand. She started to lift her arm, and all of a sudden something cracked in her shoulder. Her arm shot back down to her side, and she cradled it with her other hand. After she had recovered enough to walk in a straight line, she raised her hand - the non injured one - and asked if she could please be excused.

Rachel walked slowly to the restroom, still in awful pain. She leaned backwards into the door to open it – still cradling her injured arm in her. She walked over to the mirrors, and slowly pulled her collar down. The mess underneath shocked her. Her shoulder was huge, and had turned a very strange shade of purple. No wonder it hurt so much. She wet a paper towel with cold water and put it on her shoulder. Then, she took a deep breath and walked back to class. The bell was about to ring, and she needed to get her things.

She arrived at the classroom just as the bell sounded. She waited for the flood of students to subside before picking up her bag, and hoisting it onto her un-injured shoulder. She thought about going to the nurse, but since her accident on the stairs, the school nurse wasn't exactly _with it_. Instead, she set off to find the one teacher she knew would actually be of any help.

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Rachel walked into Mr. Schue's office, relieved to find him there.

"Mr. Schue, can I ask you a favor, since my dads are out of town, and I don't really think I can drive one handed...". Mr. Schue looked confused. What was she talking about? Not that he honestly ever understood what she was talking about. He tried, he really did, but that Rachel could talk!

"Rachel, slow down. What's going on?"

She took a deep breath. "Can you take me to the doctor." The first thought that popped into his head was of course: _Oh no, not again. She can't be pregnant too._ Rachel pulling on the collar of her shirt to reveal her swollen and bruised shoulder quickly put an end to this train of thought. He quickly got up.

"Rach, what happened?", he asked, examining it for himself.

Finn of course chose that very moment to walk past Mr. Schue's office. Damn the huge windows in that building!

Seeing Mr. Schuester looking fascinated by his girlfriend's shoulder sent some unsettling thoughts through Finn's head. Of course he knew that Mr. Schue would never do anything like that... but he couldn't help himself - he opened the door and stepped inside.

Mr. Schuester looked up, and Rachel turned around to see what he was looking at (wincing as she pulled her collar back up to hide her shoulder).

"Finn. What are you doing here? I was having a very important conversation with Mr. Schuester. Besides, you're never late for lunch." Finn didn't respond to Rachel, but instead to Mr. Schue.

"What were you doing with my girlfriend." Okay, that came out wrong. It was meant to sound more concerned than aggressive... oh well. Mr. Schue quickly stepped away from Rachel shooting Finn a very offended look.

"Finn, you can't seriously think that..." He shook his head, changing the subject. "Rachel was just showing me her shoulder. She needed a ride to the doctor".

"What? Wait - what happened to your shoulder?" Finn asked, suddenly concerned... and confused.

"Nothing Finn. Don't worry about it," Rachel replied. Mr. Schuester looked at the floor. Apparently he should not have said that. Why didn't she want Finn to know?

Finn looked so concerned, and quite honestly hurt. He couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't she told him.

It almost broke Rachel's heart to see the look on Finn's face. Maybe she should have told him. She thought she was doing the right thing. Protecting him. Thinking about other people was not something Rachel often did... but for Finn, she would do just about anything.

"Can I see it?" He asked earnestly.

"Finn - you really don't need to - I mean it's not a big deal"

"Please Rach." She closed her eyes and pulled her collar away again. Finn walked up to her to take a closer look. "Oh m... Rach. Did they do that to you this morning? I'm gonna kill them"

"Who?" Mr. Schuester asked. It was his turn to be confused. Besides, he was pretty sure someone could be arrested for that.

Apparently neither of them heard his question, because they just carried on with their conversation.

"No! Don't. I mean, they're not worth it." Honestly, Rachel was worried they'd kick his ass. There's no way he could take on the two of them by himself. He was no wimp, but they were huge!

"Okay, okay," he said, before muttering "_probably"_ under his breath.

There was a long silence.

"Can someone take me to the doctor now? This really hurts." Rachel asked, her rachel-like determination evident.

"Is it okay if I just take her Mr. Schue"

"I don't know if that's allowed Finn," Mr. Schue said cautiously.

"Please? I should be there. Plus, I have math next, and my teacher spits when he talks." Rachel and Mr. Schue both gave Finn a quisical look.

"Fine. But not because you want to skip math."

Finn's face lit up. He may not have been able to protect her, but at least he would be able to fix her.

"Okay Rach, let's go." He stopped for a moment, looking as though he'd just realized something. "Do you need me to carry you?"

Rachel gave him a funny look. "It's my shoulder Finn. I think I'll be okay".

"Right. Okay. Let's go" Rachel nodded.

As they walked off towards his car, Finn snaked his arm around Rachel's waist - careful not to jostle her shoulder. Maybe she didn't need to be carried, but that didn't mean he couldn't help her out, right? After all, she _is_ his girlfriend.

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A/N: I know there's a tense change at the end (probably in other places too that I didn't catch!), but it's just too depressing to say "was his girlfriend", especially after recent events. So, there you go! Please let me know what you think!


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